Summary of Events

I haven't posted much this month outside of weekly memes and I'm not really sure why. Not much outside of the normal run of the mill day stuff going on. Here's a general run down:

• Got my first recruit!
• Allergy problems got worse
• Had a looong doctor appointment for the kids' check ups & shots
• Lost my ID card which means no leaving post or shopping on post = BAD!
• Cleaned & organized some of the house while looking for said ID card
• Found my ID card - a kind soul returned it to the commissary where it fell out of my bag
• Rejoiced over avoiding the possible 2+ hour wait at DEERS {where the system shuts down regularly} to get a new ID card
• Got meds for my allergies and now feeling somewhere between jittery & tired
• Got my new camera!
• It snowed!
• Hit another wall during this deployment - missing my man
• Just trying to keep up with things

So it's been busy and mundane all at the same time. The weather warmed up some so I was able to take the kids outside to play today, they both really enjoyed that. Projects around the house are progressing also - more on that in another post. Now that I have my camera I'll be posting pictures as projects get finished - or at some finishing point. I'll leave you with some pictures I've taken of the kids over the last couple of days. Funny how it goes from a winter wonderland to almost spring in just a day. Thanks for visiting!

Talk About My New Camera

Well, it's late Tuesday but at least it's still Tuesday which is better than I did for my Sunday 'meme'. My new camera arrived via the big brown truck Monday - oh how I LOVE getting packages from the big brown truck - even when it's just my Mary Kay order. Receiving packages are SO much fun!

For those who don't know or haven't noticed the lack of clear pictures around here I've been without a well working camera since July - and without a less than well working camera since September. I don't know exactly what happened but I'm sure it included many drops & some exposure to water - bad camera mommy! I know! It started with the flash not working which turned into blurry photos and eventually the thing wouldn't turn on or zoom out correctly and finally it really broke.


But that's all come to an end with my new PINK camera, you can read the specs by clicking the picture of the camera but I bought mine on e-bay {yes, brand new in packaging} and spent less even with shipping. I think my favorite part, aside from photo clarity & the fact that it actually works, is the large viewing screen on the back, so much bigger than my old camera.

Today it snowed and I took some pictures of the kids running around in the falling snow flakes. They had fun for about 5ish minutes until my fingers started to freeze - literally and I said it was time to come in. They of course had much warmer jackets on than I did so they were fine and having fun. But it turns cold & dark quick around here. I'm hoping that tomorrow I can take more pictures of them playing in the snow since there's a nice white sheet out in the grass now, just hope it doesn't melt off too quickly. Don't be too critical of the pictures, I'm a little out of practice & my kids aren't used to hearing me say "look this way, smile, no look at mommy, sit still for one second" and cared much more about the snow than the camera. I also still need to read the manual and learn about exposure since I have control over that with this camera. I'm sure you'll see much of my learning though. :D And those white dots you see are snowflakes, not a funky camera error.

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Sunday Scrappin' #15 {on Monday}

Well, I haven't posted since last Scrappy Sunday but I have scrapped! Okay, so I only scrapped yesterday but hey, I'm scrapping once a week which is more than I have been in the past several months. I did attempt to scrap Saturday but I didn't start as soon as I put the kids down for nap and Lydia woke up early, so I started & finished with a pile of pictures and papers scattered. Sunday however, I chose new pictures that I didn't have such a hard time finding paper for & got all but the journaling & title done during nap. Later that night I finished up. I'm not completely wowed by them but they are done. With all of the catching up I have to do {as if I'll ever really be caught up} I'm glad to have one more set of pictures {memories} with their story told. Notice the how not fuzzy the pictures are?? My new camera arrived today - which is why I didn't post these last night, wanted to wait for the new camera. More on that Tuesday.

My tada:

I copied a layout idea from one of my Becky Higgins' Creative Sketches books. I changed up the journaling placement. I didn't have a paper that I thought fit as a journal box so I tried something different and inked the journaling afterwards, not sure how much I like it. I may try to outline it with chalk or something. As always you can click on each picture for a closer look, should you be interested.

My to-do's:

Just to scrap. Taking the time for myself to scrap is my biggest challenge so I'm going to keep working with that. I want to start planning out my pages ahead of time so I might try to plan a few pages throughout the week and then have a better starting point when the weekend comes. We'll see.

Bonus Question: What's your favorite supply to work with right now?

Hmm...that's a tough one. I don't really have one product that I always use - outside of papers of course. But I do ink a lot & recently started sanding some of my papers too. So I'll say ink - oh and paper bags. I LOVE making paper bag albums.

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Sunday Scrappin' #14

I scrapped again! Well, just finishing up the pages that I had already started, but still. I took time for myself, pulled out my stuff & got busy. Just the taking time for myself is huge for me because, like many other moms I'm sure, the kids and house come first. So I let my laundry sit {probably a little too long since it's still there} and I scrapped. But you know what?, I'm okay with that. Below I've got the pages that I changed. I did add some small embellishments to a couple of the other pages but nothing big, a rub on here or there & date stamped near the sleepy pictures. The other Easter page hasn't changed. I didn't have as many blue flowers as I thought I had so I may be adding some flowers, ribbon, or other embellishment later. I also made a card for my friend's birthday Saturday - before the party even. I have been late on getting birthday stuff out - if at all - so yay! me.

My tada's: {as always you can click on the picture for a larger view} And again I apologize for the poor picture quality, hopefully my new camera will be here by next Sunday! I ordered it through e-bay so I paid less, even after shipping. :D

My todo's:

• scrap at least once this week
• start planning for more organization {I still have to get shelves in my laundry room but I want a plan of attack ready once they are there}

This weeks bonus question: What are your best organizing tips for storing your craft supplies? Well, with my tote busting at the seams I'm not sure that I should be giving out advice on this. But I guess my favorite thing to have organized is my paper. I like the solids organized by color and my pattern papers organized by category/theme - flowers, stripes, polkadots, water, seasons, etc. Note: It's my favorite thing to have organized but isn't always.

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SMARTish

I haven't been able to stay focused this week or I've focused too much - I can't decide. I'm feeling very unfocused right now so my apologies in advance. Anyways, I've either been very focused but only on one thing - like for one whole day I'm focused on cleaning the house and I get stuff around the house done but nothing done for my business, personal time or errands. But then other days I keep going from one to another to another without really finishing anything and at the end of the day I'm very tired but it doesn't look like anything is accomplished.

Another example of my focusing issues is this. January's habit was to keep the sink clean throughout the day with emphasis on cleaning it out at night. I did okay. February I decided to start getting my laundry folded right after taking it out of the drier. So this week my sink has been clean. My laundry? Well, there are two loads sitting in the spilling out of the basket on my bed and another in the drier. :sigh:

I think I need a schedule or an assistant or lower expectations. The third would be easier and definitely affordable. An assistant? Ha! But if I had one I can guarantee you they would be doing my shopping, cleaning and errand running. I may even have them write this blog so you sweet people aren't subjected to my endless rambling.

To sum it up, I'm still working on it. All of it, take your pick. Have a SMART week, & I hope it's better focused than mine was. Click on the button above for some SMARTer people and see what they're doing. Thanks for visiting!

Missing My Valentine

I decided a month ago that Valentine's Day would be just like any other day. Really, it is, at least for my husband & I. There's no significance to this day. We didn't meet, begin dating, get engaged or married on Valentine's so it's really just a 'hallmark holiday' for us. So, I wasn't going to let it get to me. If he were home I would have received a card and probably be eating a nicer dinner than what the kids & I had. Nothing more, and I'm okay with that. I appreciate 'our' days more than this one.

Now that today is here & almost gone I realize I'm more sad about it than I thought I would be. Not because we aren't going out to some fancy restaurant or I'm not opening fancy jewelry. But because he's not here. Because we're not having 'just another day' together. Playing with the kids when he got home from work, making & eating dinner, and then cuddling on the couch when the kids are in bed. Of course arguing about what to watch on TV - tonight there would be no debate, LOST and then whatever he wanted, probably UFC or an action flick. I miss plain old boring normal days with him, though they're never really boring. I miss him & I miss us; Valentine's Day or any other regular day.

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Sunday Scrappin' #13

I haven't posted a Sunday Scrappin' for a few weeks because, well, I haven't been scrappin. Even my first two SS posts were on projects I had done while on vacation. I figured with Sunday here and almost gone I wasn't going to be posting today but while the kids took their nap I took opportunity & rewarded my busy cleaning self with some scrappy time. So I have things to show & they are very current, not complete but current. I still have to add journaling & some embellishments but first I have to decide what those are going to be & what I want to journal. I want to add a date stamp for each set of the sleepy photos which means I have to look that up in my photo archive. Like I said, not complete but at least I did something. Sorry for the poor picture quality. My not working so great camera is now actually broken so I had to use my phone. I've been needing to get a new camera but haven't decided on which one. This week I'm deciding & getting one already. If you want to you can click on each picture for a larger view. Onto my ta-da's:

So technically the first two pages I did while visiting my dad's over the holidays. My stepmom & I like to cram in some late night scrapping whenever I visit. The first set of pictures were of Lydia when she fell asleep on the couch after nursing. Don't worry - I put her in her crib right after I took the pictures. ;) I think this was April but not positive. The second page has a picture of her sleeping in her crib & the other she fell asleep in her exersaucer - hard work being a baby, I know.

These pages I did today. Continuing where I left off with the sleeping photos - I just LOVE pictures of my babies sleeping. Yes, she is sleeping in a laundry basket. No, this was not a regular occurrence. While in California for my sister's wedding I visited my bff but didn't have a pack-n-play {portable crib} with me, so I used her laundry basket. Hey, it worked! The second page has pictures during the same trip but in a pack-n-play at my grandparents' house. She didn't always suck on her thumb so I had to take a quick pic.

And these are pages I also did while visiting my family in New Mexico over the holidays. This was Easter 2006 so Lydia was baking for about 3 months and Michael was almost 2. Scrapping these photos was bitter-sweet therapy for me. It was the last Easter with my mom & celebrated with the man who killed her. He may have taken my mom but he won't take my memories, so I scrapped through the tears. This page also needs journaling & embellishments.

My to-do's: I'll start small & say that I'd like to finish these pages {journaling & embellishments} and at least start another spread. I've had the goal of reorganizing my stuff but that's just not going to happen until I get shelves in the laundry room so I'll wait for that.

This week's bonus question: What are your favorite crafts sites? They can be blogs, commercial sites, or forums? Oh boy! Get ready for some linky love! I like finding ideas for projects & quotes/songs at Two Peas in a Bucket, I get sketch ideas & challenges {that I don't actually do often enough} at Sisterhood of Scrap, I LOVE the work of the scrappy chick at Scrapping Servant. More sites that I check out for sketch ideas & inspiration are Pencil Lines, Sketch This & Little Book of Sketches.


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SHS

Wow, it's already Saturday. With the storm Tuesday my Mary Kay meeting was rescheduled to last night so my days are all thrown off. Though that's nothing new. I had an okay week. I really can't remember how often I did the dishes at night but I think that's improving because I don't remember doing dishes more mornings than not. I do know that my kitchen is typically cleaner throughout the day and really that's all that matters. I did finally catch up on the laundry I needed to fold and did a round of laundry with folding it right away. But there's a new load sitting in my basket that was in the drier for a day or so and another load in the drier so I'll have to get on that today. At least I'm thinking about it more is how I look at it.

There isn't any further progress in the kitchen. My hubby got a great deal on an XBox 360, I think for $50. But it didn't come with a controller or power cord/brick. So I got those for him off of e-bay. He says it was all still a good deal but the two items cost $96 plus I'll have to pay shipping a second time to send the items to him so just over $100 in the end. This meant no shelves for my pantry until next pay day. I'm not upset about it though. He doesn't get much down time and I'm sure listening to music or watching movies gets old after a while. So I'm glad he will have something else to relax and enjoy.

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We're Okay

I didn't realize until I got a comment from this sweet gal that I hadn't posted a follow up or update on the tornado fiasco. So we made it through. We were only in the laundry room for 15-20 minutes at the most - seemed longer listening to our air vents rattling around & wondering what was going on. There was a thunderstorm some time after but nothing eventful. I am ALL about unevenful right now - at least as far as the weather is concerned. While in the laundry room I realized that I had an old heavy typewriter on the shelf above the dryer/drier (?) and that didn't look like a good idea. So once the kids were back in bed I promptly moved said typewriter to a less dangerous place. I also have a list of items for an emergency box to keep in the laundry room so if that happens I'm more prepared & hopefully a little less freaked out.

The kids did great through the whole event, Michael only had trouble getting to sleep afterwards, wanting to look out the window. The tornado did touch down on post out in the ranges and a friend about 10 min away found her rain gutters had been ripped off of her house. Surrounding areas received more damage than the post did. But not as much damage as other places I've heard about on the news. I feel fortunate that I only lost some sleep over it. Some people lost their homes, lives or loved ones.

Something I'll Have to Get Used To

Last time I talked to my husband we talked about him reenlisting in a few months. I asked if he was going to request a new duty station {post} in that contract. The answer was no. I'm okay with that. I've become familiar with this area, developed friendships, started to build up my business & have even realized that a humid summer isn't the end of the world - it's not preferable but we managed.

One thing I am having trouble getting used to are nights like these. Days when the air is all to calm and the nights grow windy, rainy & loud. Nights when tornado watches & warnings scroll on the bottom of the screen. Times when even though I'm freaking out inside, I have to stay calm for my kids - so they don't get scared of the lightening & thunder. Thunderstorms in spring I actually enjoy. The lightening 'shows', the quickness that the storms come in and then leave without a trace that they've been there. Those storms I like. These storms where deep red cells are moving closer to my home and I can't tell if the wind is loud or it's the 'train' sound, these storms I don't like.

Coming from California the most I had to be concerned about was a flood and maybe an earthquake. With floods you pretty much knew if your area would be affected and where I lived it wasn't a big scare - unless you were low on toilet paper - then you'd have reason for concern. Earthquakes weren't a big deal. We did the drills in school and they didn't happen seasonly as other natural disasters do. During my 24 years living in California I only felt one earthquake. I've been here in Kennessee and this is the third or fourth night of tornado watches and warnings.

When I talked to my husband about the possibility of PCS'ing {moving} somewhere else I was okay with it, glad even. I've heard stories about other posts that aren't so nice as the one we are at. Granted, this post isn't perfect but better than others. Right now as I'm watching for warnings and contemplating if the bathroom or laundry room is the better place to bunker down if needed, now I'm wishing he did want to go somewhere else - somewhere the tornadoes won't follow.

Update: The watch turned into a warning, then the sirens came. So the kids & I and a bunch of blankets went into the laundry room until the warning was lifted. I tried to stay calm for the kids but I was freakin out. Now it's warm, windy & rainy outside. I'm still watching a couple of storm cells, not too much sleep for me tonight.

Another Update: It's now midnight & we've been under another warning. No sirens yet & I really hope we don't hear them. I'm a little more prepared this time just in case but so far just thunderstorm, which I can handle. Tomorrow's going to be a hard day to get motivated to do anything.

SMART {enough}

My habit of having a clean kitchen at night isn't perfect by any means but it's working good enough. I'd say about 3 nights a week the sink is empty & counters wiped down. The rest of the week it gets done almost first thing in the morning - a girl's gotta have her coffee & check e-mail right? I'm doing better than I was before starting up SHS again because at least now I'm thinking about it more often and clean more throughout the day. So I'll be content in knowing hoping it will become a better habit & move onto another one.

But first my month goals for January concerning the kitchen:

• Putting shelves in the pantry {every other cabinet has shelves, yet this one only has the holes for little brackets}
• Put up valances {which also means deciding on some kind of color scheme}
• Getting a rug or runner {again - color choices}
• Purge and reorganize all cabinets & drawers.
• Clear clutter off of counter tops.

I'm sad to say that I still haven't finished any of these projects, except organizing the drawers. Fortunately the cabinets aren't really a mess and there's only a couple that need reorganizing. Now that pay day has come I still plan to get my shelves for the {currently} pointless pantry this week. Before I pick out fabric for the valances I need to decide on a paint color.

A couple weeks ago I decided that my kitchen colors would be orange & green. I'm still not positive which I want to be the prominent color but I'm leaning toward orange. I picked up a couple paint chips today so I'll stick them to the wall and see how long it takes me to decide on a color. Also, I'm sure I'll be going to a store that has more selection than wal*mart, either Lowe*s or Home*Depot to get a larger variety of colors. Then I'll do my valances, tea kettle, and maybe some canisters in green. I don't need a lot of accessories because I don't like cluttered counters but the green canisters would even look nice in the pantry - once the shelves are in. Oh & I have a really neat idea for some art on the wall but I need to see if I can find talent. Either from deep within or from someone else completely, I'll let you know how that goes. For now I'm just hoping to get all of the organization finished this week.

So, for my new habit I want to start folding my laundry as soon as it comes out of the drier. I used to do that all of the time but then I got a small laundry basket. See, I have a tall standing one in the laundry room where all things dirty go. Then {because I didn't have a basket} I would put the clean & dry clothes on the couch, fold them & put them away. At the most the kids' clothes would sit on the table for a couple hours until nap time was over and then I'd put them away. After I got the laundry basket it was nice to put their folded clothes in until I could put them away. But after only a few weeks I've started leaving dry clothes in the basket unfolded for a couple days before folding them. Which means things are wrinkly & I don't iron, so it's frustrating. I can iron but I certainly would prefer not to. Long story short I want to get back into a good routine for my laundry.

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